?The relentless schedule which we undertake in this orchestra is tough. It forces you into a way of life which simply sounds ridiculous when you try and explain it to anyone outside of the orchestral world. The hours are long, hard and antisocial, families often take second place as we travel around the world, the pay isn’t anything to write home about and as soon as your playing hits a bad patch or you are deemed to be past your sell by date, then there is a queue of young hotshots ready to take your place. The pressure of sitting in any chair in a top orchestra is huge and if you sit in one of the hotseats in the band … well, don’t underestimate the peculiar combination of skills needed for one of those chairs, there is no hiding place on the stage when it all goes wrong.

You often hear the repeated myth that everyone has a book inside them. Its probably the similar in music, playing a beautiful Daphnis and Chloe on the flute, or a stunning Heldenleben on the violin, or a fabulous Firebird on the horn once in a concert isn’t beyond most competent players. Once. But of course its not enough to just play the right notes in the right order, the audience want to feel something, they want to be moved, they want every concert they go to, to be an event, something they will talk about for years to come. Well you do, don’t you? If you go out to a concert on a cold wet November evening and it is all present and correct but falls a bit flat because it’s missing that elusive-something, then you tend to go home a little short changed and disappointed. If you read this blog regularly, you may have some insight into the nature of touring with the LSO, you’ll know that when you come to hear the performance that you have been looking forward to for weeks we will be giving our all to make it work and as I said, we all have one good performance in us. But then the next day when you have moved on, we are on a bus or a plane or a train or usually all of the above moving to another city, country or time zone where we will try to reproduce the same thing again and again and again, night after night and if you are really fortunate in this business, year after year. This is a relentless lifestyle. I tell you this not to gain some kind of sympathy, after all, its not rocket science. You can explain rocket science. Its just that every single member of the LSO on the stage every night is giving everything they have because it matters almost more than anything else.

So this week we were all looking forward to a bit of light relief in a concert in Cologne where we travelled for one day yesterday to play the music of John Williams, a composer who’s association with the orchestra goes back over 30 years. It had all your usual favourites, ET, Close Encounters, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Schindler’s List and Star Wars to name a few. There was fancy lighting and even clips of some of the films. Classy stuff. Although this music is unbelievably difficult in every section, it still allows us to let our hair down and that’s before we reach the free beer which is always cold in hand and empty before I put my flute down. But life of course does have habit of intervening when you least expect it.

At the start of the rehearsal on Thursday morning, it was announced that Maurice Murphy, our legendary principal trumpet for thirty years, had passed away in the night. A group of people who come together daily to make one of the greatest noises on earth were stunned into silence for several minutes. The music stopped.

Although Maurice had retired for, I think the third time in 2007, it felt like he had never really left. The defining sound of the trumpet was as strong when he finally left, as his first day as principal in the LSO when he rang out the top B flat of the main title of Star Wars. I bet you are smiling thinking of it now! He was rightly famous for his stunning playing the world over, a name that commands respect from the public, but to us he was far more. Everyone has a favourite story, mine is a wonderful piece of advice which is totally unprintable here! I remember a recording session a few years ago, we played through a new piece for the first time and at the end there was a rousing trumpet finale in the style of John Williams. Maurice, Rod, Gerry and Nigel dispatched it out somewhere into the stratosphere as they do and because we heard that kind of thing all the time, we took it for granted that that is what trumpets sound like everywhere. They don’t. After the run through, the conductor/composer (who was American) punched the air and whooped leaving us looking a little bemused, especially as it was a Sunday morning. When he had regained his composure he looked across at the trumpets and paused staring in disbelief.

As a trumpet mouthpiece manufacturer I am always interested in the “sound” of a player. When I first heard Mr. Murphy I when out and bought a Bach 25 trumpet and the same Denis Wick mouthpiece so that I could understand the combination of trumpet and mouthpiece that was making “That” sound. I quickly discovered there was more to “that” sound than just the brass.
We have lost a Great one, I can not come close to reproducing That timbre, Not even with the same equipment. It was HE that made that wonderful sound. I thank him for sharing with the world that amazing sound. Lowell Stevenson San Diego, CA

A most touching, meaningful story from an insider’s point of view. Thank you for sharing this so vividly! Such musicians are the salt of the earth, especially in these difficult times. I only wish that the “powers that be” could recognize the value of such talent and personality.

As a trumpet player, have been a fan of Maurice Murphy since I was knee high to a grasshopper. Since I heard of this sad news I have been listening to LSO recordings of John Williams’ music virtually non-stop, in honour of the best player to ever have graced that chair.

It is touching to know of the influence he also had outside brass circles,which speaks volumes for his humanity and humility. What a great guy!

Though originally from London, I live out in Japan, and the impact he had out here is written on every one’s face when I tell of his passing; he truly brought joy to millions with his electrifying performances.

I was privileged to have Maurice come out of retirement again for the recording of my score 400 Years of the Telescope in November 2008, which was broadcast in 2009. The planetarium show Two Small Pieces of Glass which also featured his playing is still showing around the world – with the main theme featuring one of those triumphant high notes that he was famous for.

During the LSO’s residency in Daytona Beach, Florida, in 2005, James DePriest conducted Mahler 5 on a Sunday afternoon. Maurice Murphy hit a clam in what had become “his” opening fanfare. At the conclusion of the symphony when DePriest indicated individuals he wanted the audience to recognize for their key parts in the piece, he pointed at Maurice, who refused to stand until his fellow musicians all but pushed him to his feet.
Following a brass recital at a local college the following Friday, I scurried backstage to say hello to one of my musical gods and I asked him if we could expect to see him return when the LSO would in 2007. He replied, “I would like to but that’s not up to me. Is it?” He didn’t return and I treasure the day’s program which he inscribed with “Best wishes” to me.
The likes of Maurice Murphy will never pass our way again.
Jack Mangus
Ocala, Florida, USA

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The London Symphony Orchestra is one of the world’s top orchestras. Our home is at the Barbican in the City of London, where we perform over 80 concerts every year, and at LSO St Luke’s, a converted 18th-century church just up the road which is the base for our LSO Discovery community and education programme.